I snorted. “That’s a vague answer.”
“It’s the truth,” he said simply. “We left our birth pack behind when we—well, mostly my younger brother Hugo—had an itch he couldn’t scratch.”
“Wait, how many brothers do you have?”
“Two. Hugo’s in the middle, and he’s mated to Len, the hare. My youngest brother is Sage.”
I committed the name Len to memory. He was the one I was worried about. A hare among wolves either had to be brave or scared out of his mind.
“Go on,” I said.
Dax raised his hands to scratch his head, then remembered he couldn’t because of the binds. It was amusing to see him try awkwardly. It seemed cruel to make him suffer so I leaned over and brushed one of my tines gently on the back of his head.
“How’s that?” I asked.
“Better,” Dax said, sounding embarrassed. “Thanks. Those antlers of yours are really something else, aren’t they?”
I grunted. “Don’t try to change the subject. Tell me your great big story.”
Dax smirked. “It’s not a great big story, it’s justourstory. Anyway, Hugo was the one who felt the calling before me and Sage did. Hugo’s always been a dreamer but he gets things done when he puts his mind to them.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “Was your birth pack lacking somehow?”
Dax shrugged. “If you’re asking if there was anything bad about it, then no. Our parents were kind, and so was the rest of the pack. But it just wasn’tenough.One day Hugo approached us saying he felt a pull outside the pack and that he felt stifled in the one we were in. So we left in search of a new territory of our own.”
I listened with a frown. I couldn’t imagine growing up in a safe, healthy pack and then simply deciding to leave when that was what I yearned for my whole life. It sounded suspicious to me.
“You look like you don’t agree,” Dax remarked with a small smile.
“I don’t. I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I can’t understand leaving a family that’s kind and supportive for… what, exactly? Adventure?”
As I spoke, I wondered if Dax would be upset with me for speaking about his brother that way, but instead of scolding me he barked out a laugh.
“When he first told me, I thought the exact same thing you did,” Dax said. “I thought Hugo was being naïve and whimsical. But I saw the look in his eyes when he’d gaze over the land. It wasn’t just a place he was searching for, butsomeone.”
The way he said that made me pause. “Someone?”
“His fated mate.”
Dax and I gazed at each other, man and buck—but the way Dax’s eyes bore into mine, I knew he didn’t simply see me as a deer shifter. He saw me as a man, too. He sawme.
I wasn’t used to being regarded that way. I broke the eye contact and walked on, clearing my throat.
“Well, did he find him?” I asked casually.
“He did. Remember? His mate, Len.”
I bit my tongue, trying to keep my disbelief to myself. I’d see it for my own eyes, if it was even real. A wolf and a hare couldn’t be mates in the same way that a wolf and a buck couldn’t.
What? Where the hell did that come from?
I quickly forgot the odd stray thought when Dax suddenly perked up. “We’re getting close. I hear Remington’s howl. He must be looking for me.”
“Who’s Remington?” I asked. This cast of characters was getting too long for me to keep up with.
“He’s a young omega in our pack who owns the whole wildlife reserve. Come on, we’re nearly there.”
How convenient,I thought with a mental roll of my eyes.
